How to Get "Un-angry" in 10 Seconds

Yesterday, my day was going great...for a while.

Then, it was like the world's axis shifted and my good day went to bad. Things started breaking, mistakes were made, curve balls were thrown. I found myself reacting with frustration. My mood turned foul. Luckily, I caught myself in the moment of being angry while driving in the car and, within 10 seconds, was able to shift back to my happy mood.

Here's what I did:

First, I stepped out of my own head and observed the situation as a non-participant. I pretended I was a stranger looking at my day and asked myself, "Is the world really falling apart?"

Next, I looked at the events I was perceiving as bad and said to myself, "Don't react yet. Wait and see how things unfold before you assume the worst. Save your emotions until everything plays out."

Lastly, I congratulated myself for figuring out that my reaction was within my control and that I could go back to my happy place if I wanted to. I said, "Nice work, you're the master of your emotions - and that makes you more powerful!"

The above process took 10 seconds.

And, the results were amazing. I went with the flow and great things happened. Several bad things were actually good things in disguise. The rest were just not worth wasting my emotions on. I let them go.

I wasn't always able to do this.

It took practice. Especially, the catching myself part. In my experience, the earlier you catch yourself, the better. It's one of the skills I've conditioned myself to improve upon over the years so I can be in the 3% of the population that achieves a higher level of career satisfaction. Why am I so focused on it?

Getting un-angry is one of the best career skills you can master.

My dad (R.I.P. Papa), was a business owner and a huge mentor to me. He always said, "How far you get in your career will depend on how much sh-- you can put up with." A very blunt way of telling me to teach myself to stay positive. It also happens to be one of the key ingredients to developing your passion - the ultimate tool for achieving true career success and satisfaction.

Try it today. You'll be surprised by how powerful you feel when you make yourself un-angry.

J.T. O'Donnell is a HR and career expert with 18+ years experience. She is the founder and CEO of Work It Daily, a site dedicated to helping people solve their own career problems. Sign-up for one of her free webinars today (click here) to learn more about getting out of your career rut.